Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the original The Legend of Zelda, intended to make Zelda II: The Adventure of Link fundamentally different from its predecessor. A different team was assembled to develop the game.[4] However, Miyamoto (who was credited under the pseudonym "Miyahon") was the producer, and Takashi Tezuka returned to write the story and script.[5][6] Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was directed by Tadashi Sugiyama (credited as "Sugiyan"), for whom it was the first project at Nintendo.[5][7] The game's music was composed by Akito Nakatsuka (credited as "Tsukasan").[5][8]
The Adventure of Link was originally released on the Family Computer Disk System (FDS) before its worldwide release. Like its predecessor, the FDS version appears to be an earlier version of the game, with a few obvious differences. In the English release, the dungeons each have different colors, whereas in the FDS version they are all gray. Also, the two dungeon bosses Carrok and Volvagia (the latter being initially named Barba in the NES release) have different graphical appearances.[9] The game over screen in the English version features the silhouette of Ganon from the chest up, with the text saying "Game Over/Return of Ganon", whereas the FDS game over screen is a plain black screen with the text saying "Return of Ganon/The End".[10] There are some slight additions to the dungeons, as well as a handful of differences on the dungeons themselves. Due to an additional sound chip that the Disk System has, when Nintendo ported Zelda II over to the NES, they had to eliminate some musical elements, especially from the title screen. On the main map, the icons denoting attacking monsters look different, but the most significant change is the spending of experience points, as Link's three attributes cost the same, unlike the worldwide release. Further, the game is designed to promote balanced leveling, as the saved game on the disk will only let the levels for the attributes go as high as whatever is set the lowest (e.g. if Life is at 5 and Strength is at 4, but Magic is at 1, then the saved game will reflect all as level 1), while still saving the data regarding crystals that have been placed and items that have been collected. These differences make leveling up in the game very different.[11]
The Adventure of Link was re-released in 2003 on The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition disc for the GameCube,[12] and again in 2004 as part of the Classic NES Series" for Game Boy Advance,[13] with changes. The intro text has been changed to read "third Triforce" rather than "No.3 Triforce" and the copyright date has been altered to read "1987- 2004". The death animation removed flashing colors in an effort to prevent seizures, replacing it with a solid red color. There were also various graphical and audio tweaks. It was released as the 100th title on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 23, 2007,[14][15] in Europe and Australia on February 9, 2007, and was released in North America on June 4, 2007.[16] The text changes were not made in this version, but it does feature the solid red color in the death animations from the GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions.
The Adventure of Link was released in September 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console, alongside the first Legend of Zelda game, as part of the "3DS Ambassadors" program. It was one of ten NES games for owners who purchased their 3DS consoles before the price drop. It was later released to all 3DS owners in Japan on June 6, 2012, in Europe on September 13, and in North America on November 22. The Adventure of Link was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in September 2013.
The Adventure of Link was re-released in 2003 on The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition disc for the GameCube, and again in 2004 as part of the Classic NES Series" for Game Boy Advance, with changes. The intro text has been changed to read "third Triforce" rather than "No.3 Triforce" and the copyright date has been altered to read "1987- 2004". The death animation removed flashing colors in an effort to prevent seizures, replacing it with a solid red color. There were also various graphical and audio tweaks. It was released as the 100th title on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 23, 2007, in Europe and Australia on February 9, 2007, and was released in North America on June 4, 2007. The text changes were not made in this version, but it does feature the solid red color in the death animations from the GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions.
Nobody likes Zelda II. That's not true, of course, but it's still an easy impression to get &#Array; Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the black sheep of the Legend of Zelda franchise, a game mostly outcast from its series' numerous accolades for nearly now two decades. Only because it's different. Zelda II is derided for its shift in direction, in play perspective, and in gameplay mechanics. But if you give the game a chance, letting it stand on its own merits, letting go of the fact that it's "not like the others," you could find yourself having a lot of fun with this too-insulted sequel.
Link has returned. Fresh from his victory in the original Legend of Zelda, the green-garbed hero has little chance to celebrate his defeat of the dark wizard Ganon before he's targeted for assassination &#Array; Ganon's loyal, still-living minions are out to murder the young elfin hero, seeking to use his blood to resurrect their fallen leader. While on the run from the pig-man's men, Link finds himself taking up a new quest to return six shards of a magic crystal to six scattered temples, to release the magical seal on Hyrule's Great Palace, to then enter into that labyrinth and reclaim the lost Triforce of Courage. All to save Princess Zelda, of course.
But that you're questing to rescue Zelda and recover a Triforce is pretty much all Zelda II has in common with the first chapter of the Legend &#Array; the gameplay is completely altered. Where Zelda I was played as a top-down action/adventure with a strong emphasis on puzzle-solving, Zelda II is instead a side-scrolling action/platformer with the focus placed on combat.
Link begins his Adventure by entering into a familiar scene &#Array; walking out of the starting-point palace, the overworld of Hyrule sprawls across the screen in every direction, rendered from the established birds-eye view. Straying off the safety of the roadways, though, triggers the first of the differences &#Array; enemies appear in swarms of three and move to intercept you, and, if they make contact, you're cast into an on-the-spot side-scrolling clash against Ganon's forces. The "see them coming before they attack" mechanic was novel in its usage here. Most RPGs of the day didn't bother, instead employing random screen transitions to initiate combat sequences.
And Zelda II has more in common with the RPG genre, too, as in this game Link actually earns experience points and "levels up" in three different areas &#Array; attack strength, hit point defense and magic power. Felling foes and finding XP-boosting bags increases a counter in the top-right corner of the screen. After tallying up a set amount, a menu appears and offers you the option of making Link either A) do more damage with his sword, B) take less damage himself from enemy attacks, or C) use fewer magic meter points when casting spells.
The casting spells mechanic is yet another innovation only seen in Zelda II. Link finds plenty of meter-fueled magic items in other games, but here his sorcery is purely memorized &#Array; visiting wizened old wizards in the game's vast array of NPC-populated towns earns the hero the knowledge to invoke such enchantments as Jump, which doubles his leaping height, Fire, which causes balls of flame to project from his blade, or Fairy, which transforms him bodily into one of the series' signature little flying pixies. Fairy form even lets Link fly through the keyholes of locked doors, by-passing the need to find keys in the game's many labyrinths.
An added bonus &#Array; the game as played through the Virtual Console is superior to its original NES incarnation in an important way. The VC allows you to pause your progress with save states, picking up where you left off later if you want to take a break and turn off your console. Doing that keeps your accumulated experience points intact, which wasn't always the case &#Array; saving in the traditional way on the NES would always reset the XP counter back to zero every time (if you hadn't yet gained enough points to advance to the next level, that is). It's a frustration that gamers of the '80s will be happy to be rid of &#Array; many players back in '88 would just leave their systems' power turned on and running for days on end just to avoid losing that progress.
The Verdict
It's little touches like that, along with the game's tight, precise control and incredibly intimidating challenge factor that make this Adventure a hit. Zelda II is just a great game, and playing it again today makes it hard to understand why it's been so chastised for the past 20 years. Nintendo clearly recognizes its worth, selecting it as the standard-bearer to be the 100th game on the Virtual Console. Now you should give it a chance, too. For only 500 Wii Points, it's a spectacular, underappreciated value. Nobody likes Zelda II &#Array; but that's not true. And maybe, now, that perspective will change